- FM Qureshi writes to Jaishankar, asks working together for peaceful neighbourhood
ISLAMABAD – In a major breakthrough in diplomatic relations between Pakistan and India, Prime Minister Imran Khan has written another letter to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, urging him to work together for durable peace and stability in South Asia and to promote peaceful neighbourhood.
This is third consecutive letter by Premier Khan to his Indian counterpart since he took office last year. Soon after taking over the reign, Prime Minister Khan had inked a letter to Narendra Modi asking that India and Pakistan should resume dialogue that has been suspended since 2015.
A senior official at Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Pakistan Today that the Prime Minister had sent a letter to Premier Modi congratulating him on assumption of office and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood had delivered the same in New Delhi.
“Besides Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has also sent a letter addressed to Indian External Affairs Minister Mr Jaishankar. This is in line with established diplomatic norms and inter-state practice. Foreign Secretary delivered these letters in New Delhi earlier this week,” the official said.
Asked to comment over the nature of the communication, the official said the letters underscored Pakistan’s consistent policy of peaceful neighbourhood and the vision of working for durable peace and stability in South Asia with peaceful resolution of all outstanding issues, including the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
“Pakistan also emphasised the need to work together, on the basis of mutual respect and trust, to address challenges faced by people of both the countries, including poverty and underdevelopment. The need to advance the goals of regional peace, progress and prosperity through collective endeavours was underscored,” the official added.
It was actually Premier Modi who had initiated the contact in September 2018 soon after PM Khan was sworn in after election win. However, Premier Modi opted not to respond to the offer as elections were approaching in India. Tensions grew further after a militant attack on Indian army convoy in Pulwama which put both the countries to another war-like situation.
In February-end, Indian Air Force jets pounded Pakistan’s Balakot area claiming it a surgical strike but all its claims were raised to ground as no damage was done. Pakistan however responded with a similar aerial strike in Indian Occupied Kashmir and downed two Indian Air Force jets who had retaliated. A pilot, Abhinandan, was also captured who was later released by Pakistan in a goodwill gesture.
On May 2, Prime Minister Khan wrote another letter to congratulate Premier Modi on his election win, reiterating his offer for reopening dialogue with India.
